Increasingly machines for the preparation of a beverage are configured to operate using a capsule that comprises a dosage of an ingredient of the beverage, for instance, coffee, tea or soup. During preparation an extraction unit of the machine at least partially extracts the ingredient from the capsule, for example, by dissolution. Examples of such machines are provided in EP 2393404 A1, EP 2470053 A1, EP 2533672 A1, EP 2509473 A1 EP 2685874 A1. The increased popularity of these machines may be partly attributed to enhanced user convenience compared to a conventional beverage preparation machine, for example, a stove-top espresso maker or a manually operated cafetiére (French press). It may also be partly attributed to an enhanced brewing process of the machine, wherein: the capsule is inserted into a extraction chamber; heated water is injected into an inlet made in the capsule; the ingredient within the capsule is extracted by the heated water through an outlet made in the capsule; a brewed beverage is collected from the outlet heated water. During this process operational parameters of the machine can be tailored to the specific capsule and/or ingredients therein to enhance the taste of the beverage. For example, the operational parameters may comprise: water temperature at inlet and outlet; pre-wetting duration; water flow rate; water quantity; other operations during the brewing process. In this way the brewing process is optimised.
Accordingly, there is a need to supply these operational parameters to the beverage preparation machine. Various codes and code reading systems have been developed for storing extraction information relating to these operational parameters on/in a capsule and reading the extraction information therefrom. An example is provided in US 2002/0048621 A1, wherein a surface of a capsule comprises a bar code which encodes the extraction information and a corresponding code reading system comprises a bar code reader. A further example is provided in FR 2912124, wherein a capsule comprises an RFID code. The RFID code transmits extraction information as a radio-frequency electromagnetic field in response to an applied magnetic field and the corresponding code reading system comprises a radio-frequency electromagnetic field reading system. A yet further example is provided in EP 2594171 A1, wherein a periphery of a flange of a capsule comprises a code arranged thereon. The code itself comprises a sequence of symbols are printed on the capsule during manufacture about a rotational axis of the capsule. The corresponding code reading system comprises a mechanism for rotating the capsule about the rotational axis and a stationary optical reader.
There is also a need to process a capsule supplied by the user to the machine to transfer it to the extraction unit. Various capsule transfer mechanisms have therefore been developed. An example is provided in WO2012126971, wherein a user places a capsule in a channel of a rotary member. The rotary member subsequently rotates into alignment with an extraction unit channel, at which point the capsule can be transferred to the extraction unit channel and into the extraction unit. A further example is provided in WO2014056642, wherein a user places the capsule on a capsule support member when in a receiving position. Subsequently the capsule support member is rotatably moved around the capsule to a transfer position, wherein the capsule is able to be transferred to the extraction unit. A yet further example is provided in WO2014056641, wherein according to one embodiment a user places the capsule on a capsule support member when in a receiving position. Subsequently the capsule support member rotatably splays apart to move to a transfer position, wherein the capsule is able to be transferred to the extraction unit.
A drawback of the above capsule transfer mechanisms and code reading systems is that in combination they are relatively complex, bulky and expensive to include on a beverage preparation machine.